1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope, an insertion portion and an operation portion of which are detachably attachable, and a rotary self-propelled endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, endoscopes are used in various fields such as medical and industrial fields for the purpose of observing regions that cannot be visually observed directly such as the inside of tracts. In general, the endoscopes include slim and long insertion portions that are inserted into test regions.
As such endoscopes, those having various configurations are known. As an example, there is known a rotary self-propelled endoscope that is an endoscope, an insertion portion of which is inserted into the large intestine through the anus, and in which a rotary cylinder rotatable around a shaft including a spiral shape portion is provided on an outer periphery of the insertion portion and the insertion of the insertion portion into the large intestine can be automatically performed with a screw action by using friction generated between the spiral shape portion and the intestinal wall by rotating the rotary cylinder with a motor or the like.
The technique for inserting a medical instrument such as an endoscope into the body cavity using friction of a rotating member and a tissue in the body cavity is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-113396. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-113396, a propelling device for a medical apparatus that can easily and less invasively guide the medical apparatus to the depth of the organism tube is described.
In the propelling device, a rib oblique to an axial direction of a rotating member is provided in the rotating member. Therefore, by rotating the rotating member, the torque of the rotating member is converted into thrust by the rib and the medical apparatus coupled to the propelling device is moved in a depth direction by the thrust.
As endoscopes employing such a technique, there are various types. As an example, there is a rotary self-propelled endoscope that is an endoscope inserted into the large intestine through the anus and in which a rotary cylinder having flexibility rotatable around an axis is provided on an outer periphery side of an insertion portion and the insertion portion can be automatically inserted into the body cavity by rotating the rotary cylinder. The rotary cylinder is long because the rotary cylinder is inserted into the body cavity. As a material of the rotary cylinder, metal with high rotation transmissivity is used.
Regardless of the rotary self-propelled endoscopes, it is preferable that an insertion portion and an operation portion are detachably attachable to a medical endoscope from the viewpoints of storability in nonuse and sterilization and disinfection workability after use.
Therefore, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication 5-20704 discloses a manual-operation-portion detachable endoscope, a manual operation portion and a main body of which can be separated.